I know what you mean. The foodie site that I visited for years let you print the recipe. Now in order to do so, you have to sign up with your e mail. So now your e mail is flooded with endless recipes from the blog. Annoying. I frequent TASTE OF HOME a lot Ive printed and kept tons (mountains) of recipes from that. I like to view the reviews too for adds and subs.

Hubby does not want anything different. He wants the same thing 24/7/365. I do not want the same thing twice in 3 years.

I like to watch Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Thirty minute episodes, usually highlighting food from three establishments. Doesn’t give you the recipe but shows you the ingredients. If you cook you can figure it out. Or, at least get ideas for different, new foods. Link in the name.

I know what you mean regarding “tired” and/or ”monetized.” These days I can rely on myself pretty much but do find online helpful. I get emails from sources I like, and those sources will lead to new ones. I can tell pretty quick if something’s a good fit for me. I also still browse through favorite old cookbooks like several I have from the Silver Palate ladies. Or, I’ll pick up a stack of old issues from Fine Cooking.

We like to eat out...then try to replicate the meal at home. Or...I'll have some ground chicken in the freezer...go online with the question, "What to make with ground chicken?"...then decide if what comes up sounds good. I don't follow any particular chef or cooking show. If I'm at the gym, they often have cooking shows on the TV and I'm forced to watch a recipe come to life. :0) I might actually go home and cook it! That's happened before too. 🍲🍔

TikTok.

Really. I like to go and search for recipes on TikTok. I like it because I have found that I have unfortunately lost patience with "regular" cooking videos. I no longer want to watch someone mince garlic or chop an onion. Not when I want a NEW recipe. The whole point of TikTok is short videos to the point. What's in the recipe, quick demo on how to make it, and then swipe to the next one before they do the obligatory giant bite with slurping noise and eyes rolling back in the head. They have made the time limit on videos longer so some tend to go on more than they need to but I just swipe past those. I found a handful of new favorites that are in my regular rotation now on TikTok.

I do still enjoy "older" cooking shows just as a sort of comfort watch. I like the old Barefoot Contessa episodes and whatever 90s Nigella shows I can find on You Tube. But those are not NEW recipes and not inspirational.

I tend to buy books. I like books in general, so naturally cookbooks stick to my hands. I'm more likely to be inspired by the book than make the actual recipe, but sometimes I don't know what the recipe will be like and make it to find out. Like many years ago, I was given a Molly Stevens book and made her braised duck legs with the cherries. Sourcing the cherries was a big deal, but the recipe was awesome. If I were having a little dinner party (it has happened!) I could make that (if there were no Mr. Picky). I was also given Ottolenghi and bought Jerusalem, or vice versa, and found both books very inspiring. More for ingredients and inspiration than actually making the recipes. I have a Joan Nathan I like to cook from sometimes, and a Syrian, but the big stack else are just for expanding my knowledge.

If I'm looking for a recipe, rather than "inspiration", I come here to to the CF and the 'net. I don't read blogs nor want e-mails from them, but there are some whose recipes I trust. Others, i just find on a search and reading through them decide if it's what I want to make. If the recipe is blocked, I often have a workaround. I'm not going to sell it. I can get it free at the library or from a friend, so I have no compunction. Most of these haven't gone to pay walls (I do understand about the publications, much as I regret NYT and BA being annoyingly locked up and do hesitate before absconding), and I HATE videos!!! They're such a time sink! The other day someone posted a video in CF which was just ingredients and directions and quick. What a great thing! But I don't want to hear about the dog. or a five minute explanation of how to prep a mango.

I also watch cooking competitions to learn stuff. And because the worst thing you might see is some poor sportsmanship, and that's rare. No gruesome crimes. I find the puzzle out the task part very inspiring. These are way different than the self-aggrandizing cooking videos in social media where the people are overly impressed with themselves and take half an hour to explain how to boil an egg. There are some exceptions, like the historic food guy and the Middle Eastern gal Sleevendog likes, but those are more like real shows that are entertaining, and I still don't have the patience to sit through them regularly. There was one video when I was looking to make pitot, which was really good, with a really good recipe. The exception. It does happen now and then.

But I like cookbooks for food inspiration...

Oooo I love Molly Stevens!!!!

Different stuff can inspire me. I watch a lot of youtube, mostly about food history and historical eating. Sometimes people trying other peoples cooking or other cultures cooking. Cookbooks, I have a stack or two on the shelf. Sometimes it's from random TV shows and whatever it is they are eating looks tempting.

Often it's from shopping. I'll try interesting sounding things, or strange brands. Case buying means how to use that good deal I got. Shopping the sales and managers specials

When things are growing.. it's what growing. I see a sea of chives in the spring out back and what all can be done with several pounds of chives. Or the fulva lillies are just starting to bud to lend to cooking. I see plants and wonder how edible they are, and how to eat them. Like last year I was cleaning a trail and found lovely flowers- turns out it's American groundnut and I'm looking forward to trying some this year. And of course the garden I plant on purpose gets me going too.

And threads here inspire me.

Restaurants - Recently, a restaurant called Soba in Fairbanks, AK - got us into Moldovan cooking, and Eastern European in general.... Limba soacrei , eggplant rollups were a favorite

Grocery stores - recent trips to our asian market reminded me how much I Love Chinese Broccoli and then they highlighted their half pork belly and we braised that to make a lovely (decadent) Chinese meal

Podcasts - Cherry Bomb is a favorite lately but there's always Splendid Table and others !

Cookbooks - I'm pulling them down more often lately, I have a lot of fond memories of cooking from them and am going retro at times :)

For me it is:

* dining out and travelling

* youtube videos that are dedicated to a single dish or meal or travel+food. you can easily fast forward and often the recipe is just in the comments, on a single freeze frame, or linked. There are video sites from known sources, from foreign tv, and a few select channels. Videos, at least for now, show the real work in progress (although the final result may get polished up), unlike images or drawn out explanations like blogs.

* cookbooks and a select few sites, like NYTimes food

It depends. If I want to try something different from any category, I tend to start with my old books and boxes showing recipes requested from restaurants [Dear SOS from the LA Times, Best of Bed & Breakfasts, and pages torn from Bon Appetit and other magazines that had recipe requests, for example].

With a category, usually I wander to my many other shelf cookbooks that have specialized sections. Browsing through books is more fun that internet surfing for recipes, unless I'm in a hurry. Sweets can be from any source, although I already have found & tweaked most of our favorites already. I don't tend to make them frequently enough to need fresh inspiration ones.

For chicken or pork, I look more to the internet, because modern forms of those meats tend to taste and cook very different from the old breeds. If I have a specific product that needs a recipe, I tend to turn to the internet for that first, because it is easier to sort in narrow terms for specific ingredients. At least as a starting base.

Many insprational ideas happen as an unexpected side. Something posted in forums, seen on a show, found on the back of a product, generally coming up in a conversation, or opening the fridge and thinking to myself "What do I want to make with this?"

There are scars haunting from great wing-it results though. One exceptional turnout took 4-5 years to discover the secret was that I had emptied some leftover Taco Bell sauce packets into mix.

I like Jaime Oliver. His 1/2 show have 3 or 4 recipes that take less than 1/2 hour and are actually fairly healthy as opposed to most cooking shows that are all deep fried!

I love to peruse cookbooks, and I have way more than I should. I love the gorgeous pictures (food po*n). I have to remind myself that there is a whole profession of food photography that makes use of heavy doses of oil spray and focuses lighting. Im a sucker for a pretty picture, I guess.